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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. degree — temperature
  3. row — a line
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. present — a gift
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. staff — a stick
  8. degree — from a university
  9. row — to paddle
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wake — a trail
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. present — there
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. content — happy
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. degree — an amount
  21. staff — employees
  22. content — the amount
  23. present — the time now
  24. straw — dry grass

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com